Mavic mini in the cold winter, -20c, (-5 f)

slup · Dec 3, 2021

GilR said:
... Could this be the problem ?

What problem?

You said something were off by 90 or 180 degrees... so far you haven't showed us anything being off with that amont at all, look at post #16 again.

akdrone · Dec 3, 2021

Just did 15-20min at -33F, flying from inside the house through the bay windows. Boy...was that M3 frozen when I brought it inside. I can't speak to the min but I know from experience that the FPV and the M3 do fine in sub zero temps.

GilR · Dec 4, 2021

Thanks for all the feedback. I just tried a flight and used my iPhone XR instead of the tablet, I calibrated the compass, on the iPhone I’m getting 120 degree off. This was done in a environment that had no magnetic interference, so the thablet and the iPhone are off.
I thank all of you for your feedback so far.
I am new here and appreciate your time and patience.

SpitFire · Dec 6, 2021

Also, when possible I fly from inside my car, in cold weather and hot weather.

GilR · Dec 6, 2021

SpitFire said:
Also, when possible I fly from inside my car, in cold weather and hot weather.

Good idea, keep warm that way.

akdrone · Dec 6, 2021

GilR said:
Good idea, keep warm that way.

Reasonably reasonable at -25F

. the other day I flew from inside the house

( bay windows)

rscheff · Feb 15, 2022

Regarding flying in the cold. About an hour ago I flew for a few minutes because I got this error message. This is a rather scary message and I chose to return "promptly". Why would DJI issue this message if only battery time is affected? It was not even extremely cold, it was about 19 degrees F. My batteries just came from inside my house so they were already warm and I was only in the air for about 5 minutes, so why such a dire message?

Chrislaf · Feb 15, 2022

Was your battery warm before you put it in your drone? Batteries can cool off pretty quickly in cold temps if they are not in your pocket or some other warm place while you set up. I only insert my battery in once everything else is set up. Also, is your drone an original Mini with Lithium-ion batteries? I’m not sure if they heat up as much as Li-Po batteries, but regardless it’s a good idea to hover for a minute or so after takeoff and then check the battery temps in the app.

Chris

akdrone · Feb 15, 2022

rscheff said:
Regarding flying in the cold. About an hour ago I flew for a few minutes because I got this error message. This is a rather scary message and I chose to return "promptly". Why would DJI issue this message if only battery time is affected? It was not even extremely cold, it was about 19 degrees F. My batteries just came from inside my house so they were already warm and I was only in the air for about 5 minutes, so why such a dire message?View attachment 143950

What drone was that? Oh...Mini...That's a pretty funny alert. I've flown my Mav3 and FPV at -30F and not received that particular alert. I do, however, keep a close eye on my battery life and I alway return at or before I am close to 20%. I also ensure I am not far away when I am much below 30% as I did have a flight around -20F where I was a good 1400ft away and had not paid close attention to the wind. I made it back just fine but was down to 10%. My friend ignored several low battery warnings and had to land on the road (a wilderness area with very, very little traffic). In any case, I fly regularly at -20F with either drone without (much) concern. I wonder if the issue is the smaller mini battery?

Phantomrain.org · Feb 15, 2022

rscheff said:
Regarding flying in the cold. About an hour ago I flew for a few minutes because I got this error message. This is a rather scary message and I chose to return "promptly". Why would DJI issue this message if only battery time is affected? It was not even extremely cold, it was about 19 degrees F. My batteries just came from inside my house so they were already warm and I was only in the air for about 5 minutes, so why such a dire message?View attachment 143950

Just to clarify this is the Mini and not the Mini 2 Correct ?

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain/Snow. Land on the Water ,

rscheff · Feb 15, 2022

Yes it is the first Mini and I just flew it in 25 degrees with no error msg.

akdrone said:
What drone was that? Oh...Mini...That's a pretty funny alert. I've flown my Mav3 and FPV at -30F and not received that particular alert. I do, however, keep a close eye on my battery life and I alway return at or before I am close to 20%. I also ensure I am not far away when I am much below 30% as I did have a flight around -20F where I was a good 1400ft away and had not paid close attention to the wind. I made it back just fine but was down to 10%. My friend ignored several low battery warnings and had to land on the road (a wilderness area with very, very little traffic). In any case, I fly regularly at -20F with either drone without (much) concern. I wonder if the issue is the smaller mini battery?

The msg. did not say anything about the battery being too cold, I have got those msgs. before. I don't know how the battery could have got too cold because it came directly from a heated house and I was not flying for more than a couple minutes. I flew it again in 25 degree weather and did not rcv. the message. There was one thing in common in both flights but I don't see any connection to the cold, but both flight it took approximately 1 minute for a GPS connection.

SpitFire · Feb 16, 2022

Been flying in Chicago winters and have never received that particular alert. But I never fly when it's 0 or below.

rscheff · Feb 17, 2022

I did not fly in 0 degree either. It was 18 degrees when I got the message. 3 hours later at 25 degrees flew a complete 15 minute mission with no error msg